


A Lucky Child

by LiinHaglund



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Accidents, Alternate Universe, Childhood, Family, Gen, One Shot, Parent Death, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-03
Updated: 2015-01-03
Packaged: 2018-04-11 08:17:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4428059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiinHaglund/pseuds/LiinHaglund
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Accidents do happen, but some suffer them more often than others.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Lucky Child

His mother was killed shortly after giving birth to him. Mere hours after, in fact. Her killer had covered the wound with a blanket, placing her in a rocking chair along with the newborn. For all the world, she had looked like a tired mother who fell asleep holding her child.

The two were left alone during the night. As the first rays of sunlight entered the room, so had his father. Left unprotected and naked on top of her bosom, with the corpse as his only warmth, he had grown cold and weak.

His father thought it odd that the boy was not wrapped in anything, and odder still when the woman would not wake as he called to her. His father had always said that the smell of dead flesh was something he noticed first then.

He had been almost dead before they had found him a woman who could nurse him.

Of course, he thankfully remembered none of this. The stories the others told him were more than enough to give him nightmares.

The earliest clear memory he could summon was from when he was three and it was not pleasant either. Another child had pushed him into the river. It had been winter and he had been dragged down by the strong current immediately. He'd been told the adults nearby had scarcely noticed, until the child that had pushed him had started crying.

His father claimed it was the second time he though his son dead.

The third happened the year after. Clumsy from his growing limbs he had fallen backwards on a marble floor and hit his head with an echoing crack. He had passed out, waking up to his father's relieved face. He had smiled, happy to see his father, and the lecture he received had wiped it away quicker than anything else could have.

In hindsight, he knew his father must have been terrified and worried sick. But for the longest time his nightmares centered on his father being angry with him. It had scared him.

That was a long time ago.

The fourth time? Today, thank you for asking.

Legolas patiently stayed in bed while the old healer fussed over him. It wasn't too bad. Well, not too bad for a knife wound to the chest.

“Are you cursed by the gods?” the healer asked, almost in resignation.

“Do not say such things,” his father snapped before he could reply himself. Turning back to him, his father stroked his forehead gently. “Gods, I worry for you.”

“It honestly is not that bad,” Legolas assured with all the confidence of a young elf barely touching a hundred years of age. “It looked dramatic, is all.”

“It won't even scar,” the healer cut in, clearly agreeing with Legolas.

“See, you worry too much, Father.”

“I worry too much? When my son took a dagger to the chest? I think not.” A part of him agreed, but Thranduil had a liking for the dramatic. Nothing was ever simple in the Mirkwood court. “I will find that pathetic little -”

“It was an accident, father. You did not see his face, he was more shocked than I was.”

Thranduil continued stroking his forehead. “You have a good heart, but I will not let this slide without even hearing the boy first.”

“You mean intimidate him,” Legolas sighed.

“Suppose, my dear son, that I do let this slide. What will happen next time someone throws a weapon toward you? Will I not have to let that slide as well? No, the boy will be tried at court and he will be punished for what happened. Not only does that protect you, but it will protect him as well. Once his punishment is over he is free of the guilt and his peers will not be able to hold it over his head. If there is no punishment it will haunt him until he dies.”

“And you wish to intimidate him.”

“Yes,” Thranduil smirked wickedly.

 


End file.
